Rivalry has been Bundesliga’s best in recent years and intense 1-1 draw had ‘everything football has to offer’
Even if Xabi Alonso is no longer at Bayer Leverkusen strong traces of him remain, both at the club and in the Bundesliga. Take the match-up between Die Werkself and Bayern Munich, another of his former clubs. In the last few years it is a meeting that has nudged Der Klassiker gently aside in terms of excellence and what it has meant. Like so many historical domestic faceoffs with Bayern and AN Other it is likely transient but even if Saturday’s latest edition may not have had quite the direct rivalry that recent meetings have, many of the feelings of intensity and adrenaline were still there. It was the perfect pep for the run-in.
There has been another moment in the recent past in which a stalemate in this showpiece has pleased neither team; the goalless draw in the corresponding fixture last season springs to mind, where Bayern were neutered as was/is rarely possible and only got away with a point after a mindboggling miss from Florian Wirtz at the death. If the two clubs’ realistic aims have gone in opposite directions since, there was still plenty of chuntering on both sides at the end.
Continue reading…Rivalry has been Bundesliga’s best in recent years and intense 1-1 draw had ‘everything football has to offer’Even if Xabi Alonso is no longer at Bayer Leverkusen strong traces of him remain, both at the club and in the Bundesliga. Take the match-up between Die Werkself and Bayern Munich, another of his former clubs. In the last few years it is a meeting that has nudged Der Klassiker gently aside in terms of excellence and what it has meant. Like so many historical domestic faceoffs with Bayern and AN Other it is likely transient but even if Saturday’s latest edition may not have had quite the direct rivalry that recent meetings have, many of the feelings of intensity and adrenaline were still there. It was the perfect pep for the run-in.There has been another moment in the recent past in which a stalemate in this showpiece has pleased neither team; the goalless draw in the corresponding fixture last season springs to mind, where Bayern were neutered as was/is rarely possible and only got away with a point after a mindboggling miss from Florian Wirtz at the death. If the two clubs’ realistic aims have gone in opposite directions since, there was still plenty of chuntering on both sides at the end. Continue reading…
